


hunger

by dustandstatic



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Established Relationship, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Unresolved Sexual Tension, pre full release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:07:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24069361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustandstatic/pseuds/dustandstatic
Summary: Thanatos sees it now. His time with Zagreus gave rise to more than just reverent adoration, far more than what awkward confessions and quiet, gentle lovemaking could slake. There is so much more that lives inside of him, feelings that don't have words and those that do (but should not be said out loud). Ugly, raw feelings that burn him up from the inside out, as impossible to control as they are to deny.And Thanatos can no longer do either.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 923





	hunger

Hunger.

Thanatos doesn't yet know how he feels about this intrinsically human sensation. Desire, or even simple cravings aren't unusual beyond the mortal realm. In fact, they are quite common, even though the gods ought to wish for nothing more. Immortality might just become unbearable without something to want, without a driving force to fuel a never ending life.

But hunger, hunger is different. The need for sustenance, the feeding of a body that would otherwise wither like plucked flowers. Thanatos never experienced anything like it, and yet it fascinates him all the same. Hunger can drive mortals to madness. It can compose long, painful deaths in which Thanatos' appearance is hailed like salvation. It's powerful in a way that reminds him of something chaotic, a primordial law of the universe that even the gods can't alter, despite being exempt. 

Sometimes hunger feels like something he _should_ know. Like the language he speaks, the work he does and the power he wields. Something born within him, something no one ever had to explain. None of the other gods seem to concern themselves with hunger. They feast for fun. They drink for joy. (Thanatos can't say he much enjoys either.)

Zagreus is an exception, as he often is. 

He partakes of food during his countless attempts at sunlight, he drinks from fountains and wells. It seems to nourish him a bit, but it's likely that his body processes food differently than a human body would. Thanatos doubts Zagreus ever feels hungry (yet he knows Zagreus would eat everything the surface has to offer, if only out of curiosity).

No, if there's anything Zagreus hungers for, it'd be freedom. And Thanatos?

Thanatos watches him. Quiet, distanced enough to escape his view. He listens as the ground cracks beneath Zagreus' burning feet, as all that's built upon it shatters to his fists. It should have become routine by now, how he makes his way up and up, over and over. There should be nothing new to see. Perhaps there isn't. 

But Thanatos can't look away.

He barely notices, at first. The slight discomfort that starts between his collarbones, something rough and dry. His breath scrapes against it whenever he inhales. Thanatos feels oddly aware of his tongue when he wets his lips, his eyes tracking Zagreus as he moves, fights, laughs and bleeds. Drops of sweat and shreds of fire come together into stars, drawing constellations that kiss his shadow and the light of it slices across Zagreus' body. In the darkness of Tartarus it illuminates the shape of his muscles, the angle of his hips (sharp enough to cut through skin). Thanatos feels the sight prick at his fingertips. 

He swallows.

(And when Zagreus moves on, he follows.)

*

He hasn't seen Thanatos yet, but Thanatos sees him. Zagreus, panting from exertion, brandishing a coy smile as Ares lavishes him with blessings that smell like copper and ash. A red glow clings to his disheveled clothes. Ares' name sits on Zagreus' tongue. 

(It does not belong there.)

Something seems out of place. That same feeling climbs up Thanatos' throat - quicker this time, impatient. With narrowed eyes he watches as Zagreus honors Ares and the pressure under his skin builds, growing in heat as it rises up towards his temples and drips down through his ribs. There is an echo there, a sign of something unfilled.

Ares may laugh, for now. Little does the war-god know Zagreus will want nothing to do with him once he's freed himself from these wretched halls. Little does he know that this kinship he claims is as worthless as his words, that Zagreus' lowered eyes aren't submission, but tolerance.

He makes a convincing show of it, though. The offerings, the praise. If Thanatos didn't know any better, he might have believed Zagreus to be out for more than an intermittent blessing here or there. But there's no way he could be. Ares has simple, selfish thoughts that can be counted on one hand. Zagreus' body would go to waste in his bed. 

He knows as much, right?

Zagreus knows that all Ares has to offer is blood and violence. He has to know. Even those most oblivious could navigate Ares' lacking subtlety. Thanatos believes this, and yet the possibility that Zagreus does _not_ know sticks to him like oil to skin. Zagreus smiling at Ares' inviting voice. His image living in late-night thoughts, entertaining idle hands.

It disguises itself as jealousy, these feelings that now spread like fire. It itches, it _gnaws_ , slow but relentless, leaving an empty space that screams at Thanatos to take Zagreus by the throat and make sure Ares' name never pries itself past those lips again. Thanatos keeps his eyes locked on Zagreus as if that alone could mark him. He imagines the lines his nails would leave, and uses them to spell his name.

It's almost startling, the direction Thanatos' fantasies have decided to take. This isn't like him at all. Not once have his hands yearned to take in such a way, but now there's bruises hiding in his kisses, and Zagreus' shoulders look too pale without them. Maybe it's Ares' presence that's inviting this...aggressive kind of desire. Thanatos presses his lips together, and traps the heat inside.

It escapes him.

The more he watches Zagreus, the more that gnawing feeling grows and sure, jealousy can fester, but Thanatos feels it even when they're alone. Even when Zagreus calls him, and only him, when he thanks him with a breathless grin. In fact, it seems to get _stronger_ when it's just the two of them, and it's accompanied by thoughts that stray to places they should not. (Not on a battlefield, at least.)

It's the way he moves. Thanatos absently draws circles of death under enemies he pays no attention to, instead fixated only on Zagreus' body. His chest, the gold bands that decorate his arms, the insides of his wrists, exposed. Thanatos could hold him there, hold him down. Zagreus would throw his head back, baring his throat, far too vulnerable to be entrusted to Thanatos' teeth- no, it'd be safer to kiss, to feel Zagreus' speeding pulse under his tongue, to suck until his red blood shows through his skin--

"Than?"

(And Zagreus would hiss through gritted teeth, pull tight like a bowstring, his mismatched eyes would glitter like gemstones and his lips might whisper _please_ \--)

"Thanatos?"

It's unfair, the way he says his name. It makes Thanatos want to hear more, push all of himself into Zagreus' mouth and listen to the way it sounds. 

"Are you feeling alright?"

Oh. The battle's over. Thanatos blinks and painstakingly stops staring at Zagreus' lips to meet his eyes instead. 

"I'm fine," he says quickly. Zagreus shifts his weight, rests a hand on his hip and Thanatos feels his gaze being pulled down like a magnet. 

Those clothes don't do him justice, the way they hide his midriff, but at least they show the narrow shape of his hips. That red, skin-tight fabric hugs his thighs shamelessly, offensively, and Thanatos considers sliding between Zagreus' legs and ripping it off. Make room for his hands. His tongue. His teeth.

"You don't look fine," Zagreus' voice is still rough around the edges from battle. Thanatos' mouth waters. "Hey, come down here, talk to me."

Zagreus extends an open hand towards his floating form. Thanatos imagines sheets clutched between those fingers. Nails digging into his back. White knuckles desperately holding on to whatever surface Thanatos decides to bend him over. Zagreus may be strong, but Thanatos is stronger. The thought of overpowering him crosses his mind with feverish excitement. 

"I," Thanatos rasps. "I said I'm fine."

He isn't fine. His entire body growls, tightly-coiled tension screaming for him to take, take, _take._

Zagreus frowns, and lets his arm drop back to his side. Thanatos wants to pull it back further, pin it there, back him up against the nearest wall--

"Is it something I said?" Zagreus then asks, and Thanatos flies into a brief panic because he hasn't been listening. At all.

"I was just thinking," Thanatos tries. It's as good an excuse as any.

Zagreus, however, doesn't fall for it. "Thinking," he repeats, unimpressed. "Thinking about what?" 

He must hear it by now, the growling, the pounding of Thanatos' heart behind his ribs. The hunger catching up to him. 

"You," Thanatos answers, carefully.

Zagreus tilts his head. "Really?" he asks, leaning in to study Thanatos' expression. "That would be romantic, but you look like you're about to kill me." 

"I am not," Thanatos protests. He didn't mean to glare. It's just, his stomach seems to have grown teeth and his palms are jaws and he's _hungry,_ he's starving, he wants and he wants and he wants.

Oh. So this is what it's like. Suddenly, mortal insanity doesn't seem so insane.

Thanatos sees it now. His time with Zagreus gave rise to more than just reverent adoration, far more than what awkward confessions and quiet, gentle lovemaking could slake. There is so much more that lives inside of him, feelings that don't have words and those that do (but should not be said out loud). Ugly, raw feelings that burn him up from the inside out, as impossible to control as they are to deny.

And Thanatos can no longer do either.

"Well, if you're not going to talk to me, I'll be going on ahead," says Zagreus with a shrug. "See you back at the house."

Zagreus turns. Thanatos catches him by the shoulder with a bit more force than necessary, acting on a reflex he didn't know he had. The soft warmth of Zagreus' skin immediately makes his hand go sweaty. 

Zagreus sighs. Fed up, maybe. Thanatos is too. 

"Thanatos, really, just what is going-" 

He stumbles when Thanatos pulls him back but before he can object Thanatos is on him, almost clumsy in his impatience. An indulgent groan vibrates from the back of his throat as Thanatos allows himself to finally taste Zagreus' lips, pliant and parted in surprise. He draws him in by the neck, forcefully taking control of the kiss and the moment he feels Zagreus' tongue, hot and hesitant against his own, what little restraint he had left gets consumed by a thirst for more.

(It was foolish to think a simple kiss would sate him.)

The blinding shine of Olympus disturbs their stolen moment, a bubble of blessings that calls Zagreus' name.

"Oh- Olympus," Zagreus gasps, barely escaping Thanatos' lips long enough to speak. His body gravitates towards the light. Thanatos hates it. "I have to answer."

Thanatos knows answering would be for the best. Zagreus relies on the Olympian's support, after all. Declining his reward for a battle well-fought wouldn't just be rude, it would be detrimental to his cause. 

Unfortunately for Zagreus, Thanatos has had enough of sharing. 

"No," he decides. He briefly lets go of Zagreus in order to draw his sword, and without as much as a glance he slices through the divine message. It spats apart like shattering glass, and Thanatos deliberately catches Zagreus' wide eyes as he slowly slides his blade back into its scabbard. 

Before Zagreus can speak, Thanatos takes him by the jaw and smothers his would-be words with a deep, demanding kiss. His voice drips with hunger when he pours it onto Zagreus' lips.

"This time, you answer me."

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: now has a sequel, [consumed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26742682)
> 
> this is far too prose-y for its own good. i kind of just wanted to write thanatos being horny
> 
> (a, uh, 'proper conclusion' is not off the table, but it might take a while. until then, im marking this as a complete work and tagging unresolved + open/ambiguous ending)
> 
> EDIT  
> the amazing @beepaint on twitter has blessed us all with [this amazing illustration](https://twitter.com/beepaint/status/1272526128981434369), please go give them a heart <3


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